Hampton Creek Foods co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick has nothing against chickens. He's just convinced that he can create healthier, better-tasting foods without their eggs. In 2011 this Fulbright Scholar and former college football player started his company based on the belief that plant-based eggs and egg products were possible—and could be delicious. They would also be better for the environment, producing less greenhouse gases and using less water than it takes to keep, feed, and raise chickens.

The company's initial products—mayonnaise and cookies, aptly named Just Mayo and Just Cookies—are available in Whole Foods, Safeway and Costco and sell for about the same price as established brands in their categories.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is among the company's financial backers who believe that so-called food-tech ventures are at the leading edge of changing the way the world produces and consumes food.

Who do you dream of putting out of business?

"We're not against eggs—we're against that old, broken system. It's unsustainable, unhealthy and inhumane ... and we just think it can be done better. Like Ford made the horse and buggy obsolete, we will do the same to factory-farmed eggs."-Josh Tetrick, founder and CEO